Welcome to Gaia! ::

Brian would no doubt head off in the direction the miners went in, figuring it was a good place to start. That direction would lead him to a small building, modest in size and appearance with numerous mining tools leaning up against the side of the building. Above the door hung a sign which read, 'Aur* Mining C**poration Est. 2*1*'. A few letters and numbers were worn away by time and weather. Looks like this place had seen better days.

The trainer would approach the building behind a miner who held the door open for him as they entered themselves, assuming that Brian intended to go in as well. On the inside Brian would find himself in a small dingy office that looked as clean as they could possibly get it at this point, the walls stained with dirt and soot. He'd note the rows of chairs for sitting which were almost all filled by miners and then the desk at the far side of the office with an elderly woman sitting behind it typing away at an ancient computer. The old lady would look up from the screen as Brian entered and would glance at him from above her glasses. Not recognizing him she would let out a loud throat clearing sound and waved at him to approach.

"Name please." She'd ask Brian as soon as he approached the table, proceeding to type on her keyboard again. Once Brian gave her his name she would ignore anything else he said after that and asked another question. "Prior mining experience?" She thought he was here for a job, he'd need to correct her.

The woman stopped typing suddenly and raised an eyebrow at Brian as she name dropped her employer, saying nothing as she tried to look behind Brian as if this were some kind of joke but when she realized there was no one or nothing else she sighed and turned her attention back to Brian. "I see. Please have a seat." She said, motioning to the chairs.

Brian would be left to sit with the rest of the miners for a good fifteen minutes or more before something finally happened, the door behind the receptionist opening up and a blue suited black haired man stepped out holding a matching blue hat, too much of a gentleman to wear it indoors. The man would leaning over towards his secretary and the two would whisper before he stood up again and looked towards the gathered men and said. "Brian?" He called out.

"Ah! Hello, mister Adams. Your leader, a mister Sub, told me to be expecting you. I hope you found the island just fine." Riley said, extending his right hand for Brian to take and shake. Once their handshake ended the man would turn towards his office and gesture for him to head towards the open door and go into his office. "Right this way, if you don't mind. We have a few things to talk about." Once Brian entered the office Riley would follow after and shut the door.

Inside Brian would the office small but very nicely furnished with hand carved wooden chairs and a beautiful wooden desk. Among the oddities on the shelves were little iron statues of various Pokemon, particularly of the Pokemon Lucario, as well as beautiful blue gemstones. The most noteworthy piece in this room was the massive painting on the wall behind the now seated Riley, a painting of a man that looked very similar to Riley but in much older clothes standing alongside a Lucario. The picture looked old but man was that person a spitting image of Riley.

"Please, have a seat." Riley offered Brian to sit.

"Yes, we do." Riley said with a nod as he rested his hands on the desk in front of him. "Tell me, why does learning to harness your latent Fighting Channeling abilities appeal to you? For what purpose do you seek out this power?" He asked Brian, a stern look on his face. "And another question, if you would permit me, are you aware of anyone else in your family possessing the gift? And to add onto that question where are you native to? Is that also where your family originates?"

"Good answer." Riley said with a smile, wasting no further time as he got up and put his hat on. "That's all I needed. We can go onto the next step. Please, follow me." The man said as he walked around the desk and to the door, opening it up and stepping through. He would greet his receptionist and inform her that he would be heading to the mines and if needed to contact him on his Poketch. With that done he continued for the front door of the office, giving the waiting miners a wave before he exited, expecting Brian to follow.

As they made their way to the mines Riley would speak further to Brian. "Tell me, what Fighting Pokemon do you currently possess? In total." He asked, kicking a rock at one point as they journey down the beaten dirt path. There was little to see here on this island, what with almost all the vegetation gone, just the ocean around them and the pile of rocks they stood on.

In a short amount of time they would make it to the mines, a big open cave now standing in front of them with miners and machinery coming in and all. Brian could spot from the outside the string of lights on the inside that illuminated said mines. This is where they would be training? With what? All this activity certainly scared away all the wild Pokemon, right? "Tell me, Brian, you're not afraid of the dark or small spaces, are you?"

"I see, well it's going to be dark and cramped at points in the mine so I thought it might be prudent to ask before we entered. But since you have no issue...let's get to it." Riley said as he entered the mines through the cave entrance.

On the inside Brian would immediately see piles of steel beams, metal drums, and the results of mining, the entire 'room' square and clearly carved out. Looking ahead Brian could see two paths to take in the form of opposite staircases, both going down with one of the left and one on the right. Riley would turn to Brian and gesture towards them. "Pick one, Brian." He said, putting his arms behind his back. "But before you do, release your Lucario for me. I want you both to decide which way to go, together."

Riley smile as Brian makes his decision, giving a little nod as he began to walk forward and towards the right. "Good choice. The left side is a dead end after all." He said, revealing that this was some kind of test. But for what Brian had no way of knowing. Regardless the man would make his way for the right most stairs and began to descend into the dimly light floor below.

At the bottom of the staircase Brian and Riley would find himself in a dim branching hallway carved out in the earth, more construction material lying around but the bulbs lighting their path slightly dimmer. "Again, we have a decision to make, mister Brian. And again I want you to make a decision alongside your Pokemon but this time I want you two to say nothing to each other. Close your eyes and try and paint a mental picture of the environment we are currently in. Tell me if you sense anything in either direction." Riley instructed them. "Once you make a decision I want you, Brian, to lead the way."

The two pathways before them were one going straight ahead and the other south. How they were suppose to sense anything wasn't clear, with what senses were they suppose to do this? Regardless they had to decide, together.

If they went straight they would come up to a dead any, where they were clearly mining and finding nothing...besides a very angry Onix that they thought was just a pile of rocks. They'd need to fight. (1)

If they went south the path would end up turning east and then coming up to a small set of stairs, this clearly being the intended path. Why not just tell him which way to go? (2)

(Generate a number 1-2 to decide which path they decide to take. The result effects the future story.)